I have a Mauser 98 large ring rifle that I
want to mount a scope over the action,one
piece mount, I need to cut and reweld bolt
handle,I see Midway sells replacement handles
for $7 a piece, also they sell heat sinks
but I'm not sure if that would be needed,
this Mauser is 1912/61 Steyr .308, no collector value, but would make a nice farm
rifle with scope, I'd like to hear some ways to weld handle on and also where to cut it
off at, I'd like the bolt to clear a scope
easily,I thought I could cut a bent handle off and weld it on backwards, I have a few
bolts straight and curved, ALSO I want to
try and get by the tap and die of scope base mounting and braze or weld scope base in place, yeah it sounds like a cheap mess, but
I'm going to try it anyhow, any thoughts or
ways you've done it would be appreciated.

I never liked welding on bolt handles, though I did it when customer wanted a different style. I always liked to forge the bolt handle down in a set of blocks made for that purpose. It is a stronger set up.

You MUST have a heat sink. A solid copper rod (an old ground rod?) the size of the inside of the bolt will do fine, but if you don't have one you take a chance on ruining the heat treatment of the whole bolt and that is not good.

Same is true of brazing on a scope mount. This will probably ruin the heat treatment of the receiver ring. Soldering, which takes a lot less heat, might be workable, but I don't think it is worth it just to save a few dollars in drilling and tapping.

I rarely play chicken little, but when high pressures are involved, saving bucks and losing eyes is not a great tradeoff.

Zot, basically cut the bolt at the root. You want your cut to follow a line that will start 3/8" from the bolt body on top and end 1/8" from the bolt body on the bottom. Then using the bottom of the root and bolt handle as a "pivot point" position the bolt at a 45deg. angle from the body. Brownells sells a bolt welding jig that will allow you to position the handle in any configuration you want. But, with a little patience you can get it right without it. I don't have the patience so I use the jig. I recommend the use of heat sinks. But, you can use Brownells Heat Stop paste, pack the bolt in wet sand, or any method that will keep the heat localized at the welding point. The weld joint must be perfect; no voids. Be sure to build up around the weld. You have to come back and square off at the root afterwards and if you give yourself a little extra you aren't likely to have little valleys in the weld when you square it off. If you wan't to before or after the welding is done you can heat the handle and bend it back for that swept look. I've never brazed or soldered a scope mount. I've seen a few that have been done that way. To me it's much simple to D&T. I think if I were to do it, though, I'd just make sure the mount(s) was perfectly square with the bottom of the receiver and positioned where I wanted it. Clamp it down, check everything again at least twice, then do it. George

I will try tap and die, never did one without
some stripping tho, and the heat sink IS a
important item, a rod in the bolt and small
welds would keep heat down,george are you
talking about a bent handle? thats what I'm
figuring would give me the extra clearance over scope if I welded the handle on flipped
over,I'm going to buy the welding jig too,
just looking I wonder how I'd C clamp the
thing to weld.thanks to you both for info.

zot, you can flip the handle using the cut I described or pivot down to the desired angle. In keeping with the old saying a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm going to e-mail you a couple of illustrations that may help. George

george I got the 4 pictures you sent and they
tell me exactly what I needed to know, the
angle of cut and how to weld handle back on,
I appreciate it , I couldn't find anything on
the net, thanks, I can finish this rifle
today

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